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Caf Champions League: Simba SC one of the best teams in Africa – AS Vita’s Ibenge
The DR Congolese tactician reveals how tough it will be for the Black Dolphins to defeat the Msimbazi giants in their own backyard
AS Vita Club coach Florent Ibenge has confessed Simba SC are among the best teams in Africa as the two sides prepare to face off in a Caf Champions League fixture on Saturday.
The Msimbazi giants will host the Democratic Republic of the Congo outfit at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in their Group A fixture needing just a draw to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in the club’s history.
Simba won the first meeting between the two sides played in Kinshasa 1-0 and two years ago, they also beat the Black Dolphins 2-1 in Dar es Salaam during the same competition.
Ahead of the clash, AS Vita coach Ibenge spoke of how Simba have made huge strides since the last time the two sides faced off in 2019, and further labelled them as among the best teams in Africa at the moment, but promised to fight to the end to get a win from the game.
“First of all I want to say I am happy to be here again, and I am happy to play because it is a game we like...football, we like playing so it is a big game and we work out to play that kind of a good game against one of the best teams in Africa at the moment,” Ibenge told Goal on Friday.
“I am not scared [coming up against them], I tell you it is a game, it is football that is football so you cannot be scared, it is a pleasure to play and it is what I want for my players, I always ask my players to enjoy the game, so I hope tomorrow [Saturday] they will play the game and not get scared.”
On whether AS Vita are under pressure heading into the fixture, Ibenge said: “I don’t think we have any pressure, maybe if you want to say if we lose tomorrow [Saturday] it will be finished for us but we are here without any pressure.
“We want to only play because in the first game in Kinshasa we didn’t play as we wanted and I was not happy about that so tomorrow [Saturday] we want to show how we can play at the highest level and we want to play and after the game, if you play, it is always three results, you can lose, you can make a draw and you can win but first of all, we want to play.”
Ibenge further said Simba had made great improvements on where they were two years ago, insisting they will face a difficult game at Mkapa Stadium.
“Last time we lost 2-1 [against Simba here in Tanzania], I know and it was bad for us because we wanted to go to the next stage but we lost and never qualified,” Ibenge continued.
“It is not easier to play against them because Simba is doing better than they were two years ago, and it will really be difficult for us but I tell you, I say the most important thing for us is to show better level than we did in the first meeting.”
After beating AS Vita in their opening game of the group stage, Simba returned home to beat Egyptian giants Al Ahly 1-0, then travelled to Sudan where they secured a 0-0 draw against Al Merrikh, before returning home to hammer the Sudanese side 3-0 in their last match.
Simba are currently on a good run in the competition as they have played four matches and are yet to lose and are currently topping the group on 10 points, while African champions Al Ahly are second on seven points, Vita Club are third on four and Sudanese outfit Al Merrikh are last with one point.
